Travis Pastrana will race NASCAR full time for Roush

Jan. 3, 2013
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by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

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After flirting with NASCAR for a year and a half, action sports star Travis Pastrana will make the full-time shift to stock cars in 2013.

Roush Fenway Racing will field the No. 60 Ford in all 33 Nationwide Series races for Pastrana, who made his much-delayed NASCAR debut at Richmond International Raceway last April. In nine starts, he scored one top 15 (a 13th at Indianapolis Motor Speedway).

Pastrana initially was slated to make his debut at Indy in 2011 but a broken right ankle in an X Games freestyle motocross event sidelined him for nearly nine months.

When he returned, Pastrana curtailed his NASCAR schedule and elected not to run for last year's K&N Series title because he was competing in Global RallyCross. Pastrana said the move was sponsor driven and designed to help fund and build interest in his NASCAR career.

He reaffirmed his commitment in a Roush release Thursday.

"I am very serious about making this move, running competitively and ultimately winning races in NASCAR," said the four-time rally champion, motocross champion and winner of 11 X Games gold medals. "No team can claim the success in the Nationwide Series that Roush Fenway has, and I know driving an RFR Ford will provide me with the maximum opportunity to develop my skills behind the wheel of a stock car."

Pastrana will be paired with crew chief Chad Norris, who led Carl Edwards' No. 99 Ford for the final 17 Sprint Cup races last year. Roush said Pastrana "will be partnered with a variety of sponsors during the season."

With a Twitter following of more than a half-million and a popular TV program (Nitro Circus, which spawned a 3-D movie last year), Pastrana, 29, could attract a more youthful fan base that is highly coveted by NASCAR. But performance will be as important as personality in NASCAR for a daredevil who has undergone more than a dozen surgeries for broken limbs sustained in his death-defying stunts, and team owner Jack Roush believes Pastrana can excel.

"Travis is a champion," Roush said. "It takes a great deal of drive and determination to reach that level of greatness in any field. He is serious about this move to NASCAR, and we are committed to doing everything we can to see his career develop in NASCAR. We would certainly expect to see a great level of excitement brought to the table as he progresses within our sport."

Pastrana will be teamed with 2011 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne, who also will run full time in the No. 6 Mustang that Ricky Stenhouse Jr. drove to the past two Nationwide titles.